


Here's Looking At You

by sleep_incarnate



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Blood and Injury, F/M, it's just a small cut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 07:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10552418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleep_incarnate/pseuds/sleep_incarnate
Summary: Peri looks at what she once was and how she's grown





	

How long had it been? Peri doesn’t know. It feels so long ago that she met Laslow before that fateful war. They had a daughter who changed her life, letting her experience what motherhood was like. Soleil grew into a fine young lady with some signs of Peri: some good, and some bad. Peri wanted to give Soleil the childhood that she herself had missed, and that meant more lectures that felt foreign to her, but Laslow had helped her in telling Soleil right from wrong. She liked to think Soleil was safe at her academy, after all, she had friends keeping her in check as well.

Now, over a decade post-Valla, Peri had matured in the eyes of many. Her twintails were gone, replaced by a single ponytail-a change Laslow seemed to not mind. She still had speech troubles, but King Xander had offered to tutor her when he had free time. Peri had just returned from one of these sessions and rested atop her and Laslow’s bed. Much had changed in Nohr, but her and Laslow’s service to their King had stayed true. She hadn’t even realized she dozed off to a deep sleep.

* _ CRACK _ *

The sound of her door breaking jolted Peri awake. A sword was halfway through the door. Her sword. Peri quickly reached under the bed, searching for one of the daggers she and Laslow kept for protection. The sword retracted out before it cut through again, the hole growing larger. She could here almost maniacal laughter on the other side. It was still bright out! How could anyone get into the castle without resistance?

The sword struck her door one final time, breaking through and causing the door to collapse. Peri looked through the dust that rose, the dagger held firmly in her hand. She may not be trained with the small piece of metal, but she still knew how to deal with bad people.

“Oh!” the intruder spoke, their voice  _ very _ familiar to Peri. “Found you!”

The dust had finally settled allowing Peri a good view of the intruder, but she grew confused at what she saw: herself. “Peri” laughed as Peri’s eyes widened, as if she knew the fact had been confirmed. “What’s wrong, friend? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

Peri grew more and more confused. She was looking at her younger self from before the Vallite war. Everything from her old hair to her smaller cavalier armor was exactly as she remembered. Confusion made way for strength as Peri stood up to face herself. “Go away, whoever you are! I don’t know how you got here, but if you don’t go, I won’t hesitate to force you out by myself!”

The imposter laughed. Peri understood now why others were so afraid of her: not knowing right from wrong and her creepy laugh as she killed didn’t make her seem like someone who should be trusted. “C’mon, Peri! We both know what you want to really do!” The imposter circled the room, twirling their sword as they taunted Peri. “You haven’t seen blood in so long. All work and no murder makes Peri a very sad worker!”

“No!” Peri yelled. “No! I don’t want anymore blood! All that old joy I had from it is gone!” She paused. “Besides, Laslow wouldn’t like it if I did it again.” Her expression grew more determined. “And Soleil needs a mom who’s normal! Not bloodthirsty! Now I’ll say it again: Get out or I’ll force you to!”

But her words had a different effect on her double than she expected. No laughter and no sudden leaps to kill her. Only tears and wailing. “You’re no fun! Killing isn’t any different than what you do all the time! Who cares about Laslow? He’s the same as everyone else! He thinks we’re just a freak! Let him see just how freaky you can get then! You wanna be a strong mommy, right? Wouldn’t it be bad for precious, sunny Soleil to lose her mommy like us? If you’re strong, no one will hurt you or her ever, right?!”

The double lunged at Peri suddenly, grazing her right arm as she dodged out of the way, dropping her dagger. “Hrk!”

“Face it! We’ll only ever be that crazy murderer to people, so embrace it!” The double leaped onto Peri now in an attempt to choke her.

‘This is a nightmare,’ Peri thought. ‘But why is it so real?’ She swept the ground with her arm searching for anything to use before her fingers brushed metal: her dagger!. “I...warned...you.” She gasped out, stabbing her double in the leg.

“AHH!” They cried out. “No fair! That’s not how this works!” The double tried grabbing the lodged dagger, but to no avail as Peri had already punched them square in the jaw.

“You listen here! Laslow would never see me like that anymore! He helped me get past...this, and so did Soleil.” Her double was actually crying now, from the wounds and Peri’s words. “I knew what I was should have gotten me killed by Lord Xander, not saved, but he must’ve wanted me to be a better person.” Peri’s tone turned confident. “You are what I’ve learned to hate! The childish murderer, with complete disregard for life, using mom’s death as an excuse to kill anyone you want!” Peri grabbed the double by the neck. “Now I’ll say it once more: Get. Out. Now!”

The double seemed genuinely shocked and dropped their sword as tears welled up in their eyes. “Waaaah! Why’re you so mean to me?” they sobbed, “It was just some harmless fun! Let me go!”

‘Man I was a crybaby back then.’ Peri loosened her grip. “If you leave now, I won’t be mean to you again.”

Her double nodded and quickly scurried out the still broken door. Peri collapsed onto the bed yet again. ‘Mom, I’m sorry you had to see me like that so long ago. I hope I’ve become what you’d want to be.’

A shake woke Peri up from her rest. Instincts kicked in and she grabbed the assumed intruder in a vice grip. “Ah! My love, it’s only me!”

“Laslow?” She released her grip. “Oh I’m so sorry! I thought someone broke in again.”

“Again? Is that what you were talking in your sleep about?”

“In my sleep?”

Laslow placed two cups of tea onto their bedside table. “I came in late and saw you asleep, muttering something about your mother. I thought you were just having a stress dream and went to fetch us some tea, but it looks like you had a nightmare.”

Peri said nothing as she pulled Laslow into a hug and kissed him. “Wh-”

“Laslow, you’re so thoughtful! And Don’t worry, that dream wasn’t so bad. I got to see an old face, that’s all.”

“Well I hope you don’t get it again; you have a grip that could crush rocks!”

They both chuckled as they turned in for bed, the two quickly falling asleep in each other’s arms. Peri liked to think her mom really was proud if she could see how she’d grown.

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when I've got an interesting idea to write while also listening to Persona music. I feel like this one went smoother, but I'm still kinda bad at writing to same gender people in the same scene. Anyway, hope you enjoyed and don't forget to comment and critique!


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